um, right on

The O Jesse Knows : Jackson on Obama’s America (extract)
Amir Taheri, New York Post, Oct 14 2008

EVIAN, FRANCE – Prepare for a new America! That’s the message that the Rev. Jesse Jackson conveyed to participants in the first World Policy Forum, held at this French lakeside resort last week. He promised “fundamental changes” in US foreign policy, saying America must “heal wounds” it has caused to other nations, revive its alliances and apologize for the “arrogance of the Bush administration.” The most important change would occur in the Middle East, where “decades of putting Israel’s interests first” would end. Jackson believes that, although “Zionists who have controlled American policy for decades” remain strong, they’ll lose a great deal of their clout when Barack Obama enters the White House. “Obama is about change,” Jackson told me in a wide-ranging conversation. “And the change that Obama promises is not limited to what we do in America itself. It is a change of the way America looks at the world and its place in it.” […] Jackson is especially critical of President Bush’s approach to the Israel-Palestine conflict. “Bush was so afraid of a snafu and of upsetting Israel that he gave the whole thing a miss,” Jackson says. “Barack will change that,” because, as long as the Palestinians haven’t seen justice, the Middle East will “remain a source of danger to us all.” “Barack is determined to repair our relations with the world of Islam and Muslims,” Jackson says. “Thanks to his background and ecumenical approach, he knows how Muslims feel while remaining committed to his own faith.”

the smearcasters (horowitz etc.)

Meet the Smearcasters
http://www.smearcasting.com/

Smearcasting documents the public writings and appearances of Islamophobic activists and pundits who intentionally and regularly spread fear, bigotry and misinformation in the media. Offering a fresh look at Islamophobia and its perpetrators in today’s media, it also provides four snapshots, or case studies, describing how Islamophobes manipulate media in order to paint Muslims with a broad, hateful brush.

Contents:
The Dirty Dozen: Who’s Who Among America’s Leading Islamophobes 8
David Horowitz 8
Robert Spencer 8
Daniel Pipes 10
Michael Savage 10
Pat Robertson 11
Sean Hannity 11
Bill O’Reilly 12
Mark Steyn 13
Steve Emerson 14
Michelle Malkin 14
Glenn Beck 15
Debbie Schlussel 16
Case Studies 18
Islamofascism: A fringe term goes mainstream,
with a little help from the media 18
Daniel Pipes’ witch hunt at a public school 20
Michelle Malkin cooks up terrorist donuts 22
“Secret Muslims,” Open Bigotry:
Islamophobia in the 2008 presidential campaign 23

Download full report (pdf, 330 kb, 24 pp.)

blithering peer in trouble

Terror plot probe remark ‘reckless’
Press Association via Grauniad

Security minister Lord West is under fire after claiming authorities are monitoring the beginnings of “another great plot” by terrorists. Tories denounced his comments as “reckless in the extreme.” There also appeared to be surprise in Whitehall at his remarks, with neither the Home Office nor the Metropolitan Police, which leads nationally on terrorism issues, prepared to confirm his claim. It raised questions over whether such a plot had been detected and the prospect that the former head of the Royal Navy, who has a reputation for unguarded remarks, had once again spoken out of turn. Tory MP Patrick Mercer, a member of the Commons home affairs committee, said the minister should “reflect very carefully” on what he had said. He told Sky News:

This is an extremely important post. I hope that Lord West has time to reflect on his comments and to decide whether they were sensible or not.

A Home Office spokesman said:

We have always been clear, as has the director general of the Security Service, that there are many plots, individuals and groups under investigation. We don’t elaborate on specific plots or individuals.

The Metropolitan Police declined to comment altogether. Lord West’s comments came after the House of Lords had inflicted a crushing defeat on Monday on plans to extend the pre-charge detention of terrorist suspects to 42 days, forcing the Government to drop it from the Counter Terrorism Bill. Defending the legislation in the Lords, Lord West told peers:

The threat is huge. It dipped slightly and is now rising again … There are large complex plots. We unravelled one, which caused damage to al-Qaeda and the plots faded slightly. However, another great plot is building up again, which we are monitoring.

some people just like being lied to

Colin Powell shows off his hip hop dance moves
Lucy Cockcroft, Daily Telegraph, 15 Oct 2008

The audience cheered as Powell clambered on stage at the Royal Albert Hall in London to join Nigerian musician Olu Maintain. Still dressed in a buttoned up suit, he seemed at ease as he treated the crowds to moves from the popular African dance Yahoozee. He even took the microphone and belted out a few lyrics. Powell was a guest at Africa Rising, a festival to highlight the talents and achievements of the African continent. The concert also featured pop singers Christina Aguilera and British-born soul singer Seal as well as fashion collections by Ozwald Boateng and Deola Sagoe. Before showing off his dance moves, Powell spoke of his belief that it is Africa’s turn to experience an economic boom. He said:

I stand before you tonight as an African American. Many people have said to me, you became Secretary of State of the USA, is it still necessary to say that you are an African American or that you are black, and I say yes, so that we can remind our children. It took a lot of people struggling to bring me to this point in history. I didn’t just drop out of the sky — people came from my continent in chains.

Powell told the audience at the Africa Rising event that a lot of wrongs have been done to the continent of Africa by Western powers faced with “an iron curtain and a bamboo curtain.” But he explained that these barriers have now fallen and that “the world is being driven now by new financial forces.” He said:

Asia is expanding, it created jobs for people, and Eastern Europeans are doing the same, in my continent — Latin America, it’s happening also — it’s now Africa’s turn. With all this wealth creation going on in the world, it won’t happen with just wishing, it will be done with hard work. Africa needs aid, but more than that it needs trade — it needs capital, but it has the same potential as Asia and Eastern European countries. There’s no reason a new Africa can’t be created here and now.

who needs israel?

German defense attaché was at Iran rally
Benjamin Weinthal, JPost (extract)

German Ambassador to Iran Herbert Honsowitz violated EU guidelines by allowing a military attaché to attend a military parade in Tehran late last month, according to a spokeswoman for the German Foreign Ministry’s Iran section. The presence of a German defense attaché at the military parade was a source of enormous embarrassment for the ministry in Berlin. In uncharacteristically strong language and disciplinary action, Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier ordered Honsowitz to return to Berlin on Sep 29. In an email to the JPost, Jens Plötner, Foreign Ministry spokesman, wrote, “Foreign Minister Steinmeier was very annoyed that the military attaché of the German Embassy participated in the military parade in Tehran. The German ambassador was immediately called back to Berlin for consultations.” A Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said Honsowitz had a “series of talks” over the last two weeks with State Secretary Reinhard Silberberg and the Human Resources Division concerning his decision to permit the attaché to attend the show of Iran’s military strength. When asked whether Honsowitz’s energetic support for bolstering German-Iranian trade at the expense of Israel’s national security was a topic of talks between Silberberg and Honsowitz, Plötner wrote in an email to the JPost that “the Foreign Office does not give information on the content of internal discussions between chiefs and subordinates.”

Honsowitz, who has served as ambassador in Tehran since 2006 and is considered “Iran-friendly,” has now left Berlin to return to his post. The military attaché is no longer based in Tehran and completed his three-year term in late September, according to the spokeswoman. Honsowitz’s ambassadorship began in 2006 and runs until 2009. He served in the embassy in Tel Aviv between 1980 and 1983 and was responsible for arranging meetings for German MPs and ministers as well as reporting on the political situation in Israel, according to the Foreign Ministry spokeswoman. He is set to retire from the diplomatic corps next summer. In April, the JPost reported on Honsowitz’s presence at an Iranian oil show and the embassy’s role in facilitating an expansion of German engineering firms’ business with the Iranian regime. Honsowitz told Iranian Press TV last November that the “German Embassy is trying to take measures toward maintaining and improving economic ties between the private sectors of the two countries.” Israeli officials view Germany as severely undercutting France and Britain’s effort to economically isolate Iran because of its refusal to suspend uranium enrichment. While SDP head Steinmeier has recently changed his rhetoric, he and his party, partners in the coalition of Chancellor Angela Merkel, refuse to enact legislation banning trade with Iran.

who needs the saudis?

A development that poured cold water on the Pak-Saudi relations is the allocation of a sprawling hunting field in Rajanpur district for a dignitary of another country. This place has been in the use of a powerful Saudi dignitary Interior Minister and brother of Saudi king, Prince Naif bin Abdulaziz, for over thirty years. “Saudis take such things very seriously because they don’t expect such snubs from a brotherly country like Pakistan,” the source said. However, the official said that every year the decisions about allocation of different hunting fields were taken during joint consultations with diplomatic representatives of Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Kuwait and Qatar. – Pakistan Daily News

Pakistan, China may ink civil N-pact
Pakistan Daily Times

President Asif Ali Zardari may sign a preliminary civilian nuclear pact with China during his visit to the country, Pakistan’s ambassador to China said on Tuesday. Speaking to Geo News channel in Beijing, Masood Khan hinted that a nuclear deal could be on the cards during four days of talks. “Both countries have always supported the peaceful use of civil nuclear energy,” Khan said, adding an agreement was “expected in this connection.” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang also indicated that nuclear energy co-operation would be discussed during Zardari’s visit, when he will meet President Hu Jintao and Prime Minister Wen Jiabao, but he gave no specifics. “China and Pakistan share sound co-operation in nuclear energy. China is ready, on the basis of equality and mutual benefit, to continue its co-operation with Pakistan,” he said. The president arrived in China Tuesday on his first official visit since assuming office. The formal welcome ceremony for the president will be held today (Wednesday) at the Great Hall of the People, where Jintao will receive him. Zardari will also hold meetings with National People’s Congress Chairman Wu Bangguo, Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference Chairman Jia Qingling, and business leaders. Over a dozen agreements, memorandums of understanding and protocols to expand co-operation in diverse fields between Pakistan and China are to be signed during the visit. The FT also reported Tuesday, without citing sources, Zardari would seek a soft loan of between $500m and $1.5b from China to help Pakistan out of its financial crisis.

the usual suspects that just won’t quit

US and EU plan Iran sanctions
Daniel Dombey, James Blitz, FT, Oct 13 2008

The US and its allies are discussing a “coalition of the willing” that would impose sanctions on Iran’s energy and financial sectors without UN backing. A foreign policy adviser to Barack Obama recently helped to write a report that warned, “The Europeans make war more likely if they do not strengthen sanctions against Iran.” The September report was produced by the Bipartisan Policy Center, a Washington-based think-tank, with the co-operation of Dennis Ross, perhaps Obama’s most influential adviser on the Middle East. While backing an intensive diplomatic effort, it calls for immediate military steps to deal with Iran, such as “prepositioning additional US and allied forces, deploying additional aircraft carrier battle groups and minesweepers, and emplacing other war materiel in the Gulf region.”

A European diplomat told the FT, “As we go into 2009, you’re going to hear more and more about military action.” The diplomat said that European countries and the US were planning to impose sanctions on Iran’s energy sector as “like-minded countries” — rather than through the UN — and were discussing targeting exports of engineering products for Iranian refineries, as well as refined oil itself. He said that western countries had concluded, “If there is another UN resolution, it will take a lot of time, and there will be very little substance in it.” Another western diplomat said, “The idea would be to get together a ‘coalition of the willing’, given the difficulties we would have getting this past Russia and China in the UN. Iran has a limited refining capacity, so they rely on petrol imports. We are therefore working on targeting investment in the Iranian refinery industry.” He added that measures which might also target the financial sector could be agreed in early November. “You would try and stop investment in new projects inside Iran, preventing extraction and transportation,” he said. Iran meets about one-third of its petrol needs through imports, estimated to cost more than $10b this year.